"Bumblebee is a solution to Nvidia Optimus hybrid-graphics technology allowing to use the dedicated graphics card for rendering. It was started by Martin Juhl".

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<blockquote>Bumblebee is a solution to Nvidia Optimus hybrid-graphics technology allowing to use the dedicated graphics card for rendering. It was started by Martin Juhl.</blockquote>

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* The Arch Linux Wiki page for [[Bumblebee]] explains in detail how-to use [https://github.com/Bumblebee-Project/Bumblebee Bumblebee]. Be aware it talks about [http://www.nvidia.com/object/optimus_technology.html Optimus technology], yet the Alienware M11x R1 does not have Optimus - later revisions of the M11x (specifically, the M11x R2 and R3) DO have Optimus.

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The Arch Linux Wiki page for [[Bumblebee]] explains in detail how-to use [https://github.com/Bumblebee-Project/Bumblebee Bumblebee]. Be aware it talks about [http://www.nvidia.com/object/optimus_technology.html Optimus technology], yet the Alienware M11x R1 does not have Optimus - later revisions of the M11x (specifically, the M11x R2 and R3) DO have Optimus.

Below is quick overview on how-to get [[Bumblebee]] up-and-running specifically with Arch Linux, on the Alienware M11x R1. The best resource for Bumblebee on Arch Linux ''is'' the Arch Linux wiki's [[Bumblebee]] page.

Below is quick overview on how-to get [[Bumblebee]] up-and-running specifically with Arch Linux, on the Alienware M11x R1. The best resource for Bumblebee on Arch Linux ''is'' the Arch Linux wiki's [[Bumblebee]] page.

Currently, the brcm80211 driver in AUR and the 2.6.37 kernel have a particularly crippling bug on multicore systems. This is fixed in 2.6.38-rc3 - the driver works great and is much faster (both in terms of initial connection and transfer rates; YMMV).

UPDATE: As of Kernel 2.6.39 brcm80211 was renamed to brcmsmac, that should not give you any problems, BUT when using Kernel 3.0 you need to add brcmsmac to your modules array in /etc/rc.conf, because of some bug in which the wireless interface does not show up, that should solve it.

FN+F3 controls the internal radio on the wireless internal adapter - this allows you to turn it off/on.

Currently, this device does NOT support monitor mode, nor packet injection =(

Above in the rc.conf NETWORKING section, I am not using eth1 (actually commented out), as I like using wlan0 for wireless interface, it is just my preference. I am using the following config taken from Broadcom_BCM4312Interfaces swapped every time section, namely to create my wlan0 interface, and to ensure eth0 and my wireless interface do not get swapped around ::

Create a file called /etc/udev/rules.d/10-network.rules and bind the MAC address of each of your cards to a certain interface name

Sound

Touchpad

Video

- For Alienware M11x R1 owners:
The Alienware M11x R1 has 2 video cards, and can be manually changed with the system BIOS (accessed by pushing F2 during system POST) ::

Switchable => Linux will use the Intel 4500HD internal video

Discrete => Linux will use the NVIDIA GeForce GT 335M

Alienware M11x R1 users running Linux have some tools available which will interact with the hybrid video cards in this laptop.

Bumblebee is a software implementation based on VirtualGL and a kernel driver to be able to use the dedicated GPU. Alienware M11x R1 users CAN use this method to switch between the Onboard/Intel and the Discrete/NVIDIA without a system reboot and/or BIOS change (yet the BIOS would need to be set for Switchable).

acpi_call allows you to disable+power down the Discrete/NVIDIA card when the system is booted while BIOS Graphics mode is set to => Switchable

vga_switcheroo allows one to switch between the Onboard/Intel and the Discrete/NVIDIA without a system reboot and/or BIOS change (yet the BIOS would need to be set for Switchable). vga_switcheroo has been reported as non-functional at this state for Alienware M11x users.

- For Alienware M11x R3 owners:
Many of the methods for running Optimus & bumblebeed on the M11xR3 are the same or similar to the M11xR2 however the acpi calls are different for this model.

Bumblebee

Bumblebee is a solution to Nvidia Optimus hybrid-graphics technology allowing to use the dedicated graphics card for rendering. It was started by Martin Juhl.

The Arch Linux Wiki page for Bumblebee explains in detail how-to use Bumblebee. Be aware it talks about Optimus technology, yet the Alienware M11x R1 does not have Optimus - later revisions of the M11x (specifically, the M11x R2 and R3) DO have Optimus.
Alienware M11x R1 users have reported success with Bumblebee here.

Below is quick overview on how-to get Bumblebee up-and-running specifically with Arch Linux, on the Alienware M11x R1. The best resource for Bumblebee on Arch Linux is the Arch Linux wiki's Bumblebee page.

To have the nvidia module load at boot, add the Nvidia module in the "MODULES" array in your /etc/rc.conf:

MODULES=(... nvidia ...)

Permission to use 'optirun' is granted to all members of the 'bumblebee' group, so you must add yourself (and other users wanting to use bumblebee) to that group:

usermod -a -G bumblebee <user>

where <user> is the login name of the user to be added. Then log off and on again to apply the group changes.

Bumblebee provides a daemon, to start it simply run:

rc.d start bumblebee

To start the Bumblebee daemon at boot, add it to your DAEMONS array in /etc/rc.conf

# DAEMONS=(... @bumblebee)

Add dkms_autoinstaller as early as possible to the DAEMONS array in /etc/rc.conf

# DAEMONS=(syslog-ng dkms_autoinstaller ... )

In the /etc/bumblebee/bumblebee.conf file, change the line

DRIVER='nouveau'

-TO-

DRIVER='nvidia'

Bumblebee Usage

To launch an application using the dedicated graphics card:

$ optirun [options] <application> [application-parameters]

For a list of options for 'optirun' run in a terminal:

$ optirun --help

If you want to run a 32-bit application on a 64-bit system you may install the proper 'lib32' packages.

All applications will by default run on the integrated/Intel card, calling 'optirun' is required to run any applications on the dedicated/NVIDIA card.

Power Management is still being worked on by the Bumblebee developers, for now it is suggested not to use the power management features of Bumblebee until this area of code matures.

If you desire to power down the discrete/NVIDIA card while it is unused you can run into issues while running Bumblebee, this is completely unsupported and not suggested by the Bumblebee developers. To do it, follow the 'acpi_call' section in this wiki, just be aware you may very well run into "issues".

ACPI_CALL

ACPI_CALL is a kernel module that enables you to call parameterless ACPI methods by writing the method name to /proc/acpi/call, e.g. to turn off the discrete graphics card in a dual graphics environment. acpi_call works on the Alienware M11x R1 for disabling the discrete video card + powering it down successfully. Make sure you boot with BIOS set to switchable' ::

Grab the acpi_call-git AUR package(IMHO it is working pretty stable), and skip the manual installation/compilation of acpi_call.

OR you can grab acpi_call and compile manually. Please see the acpi_call site for details on compilation if you wish to compile manually.

Use 'nvidia-settings' to configure the video card, and multiple screens if using the discrete/NVIDIA card.

Backlight Brightness

When booting into Arch Linux using NVIDIA/discrete video card just change brightness using the FUNCTION+F4 = brightness up, and FUNCTION+F5 = brightness down - also 'nvidia-settings' should allow brightness settings changes too.

When booting into Arch Linux using the INTEL/onboard video card, the only way to change brightness levels requires passing a command through 'setpci', the following script is adapted from Samsung_N150-Backlight ArchWiki article works fine (ymmv). REQUIREMENTS:bc, and setpci

create a file @ /sbin/backlight

sudo chown root:video /sbin/backlight

sudo chmod 750 /sbin/backlight

make sure to add the username allowed to change the backlight settings to the video group in /etc/group

create an alias in your shell startup, and turn the brightness up or down via command, in turn you could tie this to a button combination in your xwindow manager settings.

Lighting and colors

AlienFX

AlienFX Lite is (according to the author's page) "a simple cross-platform program to create profiles and set the AlienFX lightning to the set colors. This application was done for the Allpowerfull M15x and only tested on this machine. It should also work on the M17x. The application will most likely accept the Area 51 m15x but it was untested. The current supported platforms are:
Linux (32 bit), Linux(64 bit), Mac OS X(UNTESTED), Windows 7(64 bit), Windows 7 (32 bit), Windows Vista (32bit), Windows Vista 64bit, Windows XP"